Why Liverpool will be pleased to see this Argentine ruled out

With news emerging that Newcastle will be without club captain Fabricio Coloccini for the arrival of Liverpool on Saturday, according to the Daily Mail, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers’ task has been made much easier at St James’ Park.

In the other dugout, Alan Pardew will be frustrated at the latest setback to hit the Newcastle defence withSteven Taylor still to return from a hamstring problem picked up in their opening day defeat to Manchester City.

Pardew’s task of repelling an irresistible Liverpool strike force of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, with nine goals between them this season, has been made much more difficult with only Michael Williamson andMapou Yanga-Mbiwa to call upon.

Coloccini and Yanga-Mbiwa have been the preferred partnership after Taylor’s injury, but with the Argentine star ruled out, Williamson will have to step into the fold.

However, Williamson and Yanga-Mbiwa have yet to play alongside each other in the Premier League this season, and Rodgers will surely be telling his strikers to target the duo and exploit their lack of understanding with each other.

In addition, Coloccini’s assured presence at the back would have been a great asset in dealing with two of the country’s most in-form forwards, and his absence is a big loss.

Newcastle fans will need no reminders of what happened in this fixture last season, with the Reds running riot in a crushing 6-0 win at St James’ Park courtesy of goals from Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Daniel Agger and Fabio Borini.

“It was one of my worst days as Newcastle boss for sure. It’s happened to bigger and better managers than me though – Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger – they’ve all had those days too,” said Pardew.

“You have to make sure that there’s a response in the next game, and we managed to get ourselves out of that hole fortunately. But it was a tough day.”

The Magpies will be keen to avoid a repeat of that occasion but have a tough task on their hands without their best defender – who has recorded a performance score of 114 so far, which is more than any of his peers have achieved.

Coloccini also maintains a superb pass accuracy of 87 per cent over seven games, highlighting his calmness and composure in the centre of defence which is invaluable to Pardew’s plans.

With Yanga-Mbiwa averaging 84% and Williamson 81%, Newcastle could find it a lot more difficult keeping the ball at the back with the tenacious Luis Suarez leading the Liverpool pressure.

Newcastle will also be losing Coloccini as a defender, who wins on average 88% of his tackles and 64% of all headers.

Although Williamson will certainly bring an aerial presence, much needed as Yanga-Mbiwa’s average heading success is a poor 47 %, the fact that Williamson has yet to make a single tackle in either of the two games he has played is concerning.

And most importantly, Newcastle will be losing a leader and a commanding presence. With Taylor also out, it remains to be seen who will organise the back four as Williamson lacks the qualities needed and Yanga-Mbiwa lacks the experience to do so.

Liverpool will be licking their chops in anticipation of another big victory on a ground that has been kind to them in the past while Newcastle fans will be hoping for a repeat of Pardew’s first game in charge, a 3-1 victory at St James’ Park over Liverpool with former Reds striker Andy Carroll getting on the scoresheet.